Boulder coyote management plan could come Monday

Seven reported incidents from Christmas Eve to Jan. 2

A coyote crosses the South Boulder Creek Trail a little north of the Boulder Community Hospital in Boulder on Monday, Jan. 14, 2013. (Mark Leffingwell / Daily Camera)

City and state wildlife officials hope to unveil a strategy Monday for addressing a recent series of aggressive coyote incidents occurring on or near the eastern portion of the Boulder Creek Path.

The process of settling on a management plan continues even as the number of known incidents continues to climb, and it becomes clear that not every episode that has occurred recently has reached the desks of wildlife officials.

For example, one Boulder County woman who was closely followed by a coyote on the path at the 55th Street underpass during a run Dec. 30 told the Daily Camera on Friday that she had never reported the incident to officials. It occurred mid-morning, within sight of coyote caution signs posted by wildlife officials.

Julia Yager was in the midst of a 12-mile run with a friend when her friend first saw the animal in the middle of the path, directly under the overpass.

Yager, who admits to first approaching the coyote herself, said she believed her report would come in too late to be meaningfully acted upon that day. She also thought there were many others on the path that morning who might have seen and reported the coyote's behavior.

Yelling and waving her arms at the coyote that morning, Yager said, did little more than cause the animal to simply move over to one side of the path -- before subsequently trotting along behind her, much as a dog might do.

"I didn't necessarily feel chased," said Yager, who described the coyote's actions as closer to following. "It felt like he was playing a game. I wouldn't have described him as aggressive, when I approached him or when he approached me."

Nevertheless, Yager inquired of a couple she saw immediately afterward whether they had a cell phone she could use to call in the encounter. They did not.

Yager finally reported the incident Friday, now bringing to seven the number of human-coyote encounters -- including one biting -- that have been reported near the bike path between 30th and 55th streets from Dec. 24 to Jan. 2. Wildlife officials are not aware of any more encounters since that date.

Val Matheson, the city of Boulder's urban wildlife conservation coordinator, said the new management plan to handle the coyote situation is "a work in progress." She is sharing it with Colorado Parks and Wildlife -- as well as the University of Colorado, since the Dec. 29 biting of a female jogger took place on the CU Research Park campus.

"I'll be sending it out for feedback today, and I hope to get feedback starting this afternoon," Matheson said Friday. She hoped to be able to make something public as soon as Monday. Prior to having other partners' input, Matheson did not want to discuss her plan in any detail.

Gunbarrel resident Anthony Goffredo still has vivid memories of being chased by a coyote while commuting on his bicycle on the Boulder Creek Path at 55th Street near sunset last Oct. 15. He said the animal's teeth came "within a foot or two" of his feet on the pedals.

He now doesn't ride through that area without a rock in his hand. But, as an animal lover, Goffredo hopes the management plan combines some blend of increased foot patrols by wildlife officers, and if needed, relocation.